Hillary Finishes Paying Off Campaign Debt, Starts Year With $204,832.97 Cash on Hand

Daniel Halper

January 24, 2013 10:56 AM

Just before Hillary Clinton testified on Capitol Hill about the terror attack in Benghazi, her 2008 presidential campaign filed paperwork revealing that millions of dollars worth of debt had finally been repaid.

And, in fact, Clinton's presidential campaign now has $204,832.97 cash on hand. That money can be used for future campaigns, should Hillary Clinton decide to run again for public office. She has not, however, made a public announcement on whether she is planning to run for president in 2016.

Some of the final disbursements from Clinton's 2008 campaign, according to documents filed with the Federal Election Commission, were three payments to the polling firm Penn Schoen & Berland LLC, run by Mark Penn and Doug Schoen. The three payments were for the amounts of $19000.00, $27000.00, and $27000.00. Other disbursements included tax bills to Washington, D.C., Maryland, and the federal government's Internal Revenue Service.

According to the Associated Press, "Clinton had owed vendors about $12 million at the end of June 2008."

Clinton faced restrictions on fundraising to retire her debt because of her position of secretary of state, but was able to receive some funds from the Obama campaign. "President Obama also helped in his own way.The Clinton campaign report shows she rented out her list of donors to Obama's presidential campaign, which brought in about $63,000 in October," reports USA Today.

Bill Clinton, Hillary's husband, pitched in, too. "Former President Bill Clinton sent a fundraising email to his wife's supporters in late November, asking for their help in retiring the debt. The campaign raised about $158,000 in the last three months of 2012," reports the AP.